Flare

...; transferred from the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, to the museum, 1883

ObjectNumber: NG-MC-1081-B

Life-saving apparatus mounted on an inclined backboard resembling the ship’s side.

The buoy (NG-MC-1081-A) consists of two floats connected by a crossbar, with a vertical round pole in the middle. It is held against the wall by two guides running through the crossbar and is secured with a chain. The chain can be released by a catch, for which a lanyard runs through the wall, enabling the buoy to fall from the guides and float free. At the top of the pole, a flat brass pan or flare can be attached. Before launching, the light is lit by means of a flintlock mounted against the inclined wall and encased in a brass container, with a lanyard that goes through a couple of sheaves and through the wall. The pan cover, which protects the flare from getting wet, is fixed to the wall and stays behind after launching. At the lower end of the pole an extension is fitted, which is lowered automatically once the buoy is released. Two flares or pans for the pyrotechnical light have been added (NG-MC-1081-B).

Lieutenant Thomas Cook did not patent his buoy, conforming to the rules of the Society of Arts, where he first presented his invention.¹¹Transactions of the Society of Arts, Agriculture etc., 36 (1818), pp. 121-25. He was awarded a golden ring by the Dutch government for his invention in 1819. A model was presented to the Dutch Navy by the British Admiralty (NG-MC-852).²²J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 852.

At least five Dutch ships are known to have carried Cook’s life-saving buoy, the frigates Rupel (1818-43) and Bellona (1819-50), the sloops of war Pallas (1822), Arend (1818-?) and Triton (1822-47). All Cook’s life-saving buoys were removed from Dutch ships in 1843, because they were never used. However, the British-made model of the monitors Heiligerlee and Krokodil from 1868, does show a night life buoy fixed to the stern (NG-MC-1238).³³J. van der Vliet, ‘De “night life-buoy” van Thomas Cook. Een opmerkelijk reddingstoestel, Scheepshistorie 13 (2012), pp. 120-25, p. 125.

Transactions of the Society of Arts, Agriculture etc., 36 (1818), pp. 121-25; J.C. Rijk, Generaal Rapport Z.M. Pallas, s.l. 1825, manuscript with 6 appendices in HSM, inv. no. NII (03144); B. zu Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenbach, Reise des Herzogs Bernhard zu Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach durch Nord-Amerika in den Jahren 1825 und 1826, Weimar 1828, p. 16; J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 852; H. Goethe and C. Laban, Die individuellen Rettungsmittel, Herford 1988, pp. 14, 161-63, 196-99; A.A. Lemmers, Techniek op schaal. Modellen en het technologiebeleid van de Marine 1725-1885, Amsterdam 1996, pp. 203-06; J. van der Vliet, ‘De “night life-buoy” van Thomas Cook. Een opmerkelijk reddingstoestel, Scheepshistorie 13 (2012), pp. 120-25

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Flare, Netherlands, 1819', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.359823